NEO-PAGAN vs PAGAN RECONSTRUCTIONISM - What's the Difference?

How would you define your Pagan beliefs? Would you consider yourself a Neo-Pagan, a Pagan Reconstructionist, or something else? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Witchcraft, Wicca, and Paganism - What's the Difference Video:

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[dennis]

For me, the ancestor worship part is the most important part, so for me it's very important to stick closer with the type of paganism that my ancestors would have practiced.

[elizabethgrey]

I now define myself as an eclectic pagan! I do love researching the ancient cultures and learning from their religions, but ultimately what is most important to me is my experiences in the here and now. If my god behaves a certain way towards me, that is the way I will ultimately perceive him. I draw ideas from many traditions, and I appreciate them all! ❤️

[meganp]

I guess I would consider myself something else entirely, but only for the moment because I am still learning about the many different branches in paganism. So far, Neo-Druidism has been speaking to me the most.

[beththewicca]

I prefer to think of myself as an eclectic pagan. I like to learn about everything and through that I watch for anything that speaks to me or rouses my intuition and then research, research, research after which I will give it a try. If I connect to it after that I incorporate it into my craft.

[priestessoftheancientflame]

I define myself as a polytheistic pagan. I am an italian which that lives in Germany. Im my bloodline there is also a little bit nordic blood. Ive began with Wicca when I was 13, with 20 I learned Stregheria (an onored so my southitalian heritage), then with 30 Freya calls me and I learned the way of the Völva. Now I venerate Diana, Artemis, Freya, Eir, Thor, Odin and Sol invictus. I have also learned about Voodoo and Santeria, about kemetism and druidry, but I dont follow this anymore. I am not exactly a Wiccan but I celebrate also the Esbats and the wheel of the year. I am not exatly a Asatru nor a Vanatru and I am not a reconstructionist. I think in this new time we dont need to define ourselfes for what we are or what we are not. We are pagans, we venerate the Gods and Goddesses, we held otd traditions alive but we also establish new ones. And so the wheel turns and the Gods were with us from the beginning .

[lupercalia]

Hi there, Roman Reconstructionist here! In my personal experience, I haven't found much prejudice against me not having super obvious Roman ancestry. Perhaps it's just in the nature of Cultus Deorum to be open to foreign peoples and their gods. The Romans often adopted new belief systems and spread once-local cults around the Empire. I love the concept of this openness, it gives me so much freedom to find my own path. I also feel very drawn to ancestor worship, which is generally a reconstructionist thing, because knowing my ancestors are watching over me is so comforting.

I refer to myself as pagan, if only because I am quite content with the possibility of no afterlife, and also to meet fellow pagans, because Roman Recons are so rare. I participate in a number of groups for Hellenic Polytheists, because there I feel some degree of similarity with them. Kemetic (Egyptian), Cultus Deorum (Roman), and Hellenic (Greek) polytheists and reconstructionists generally get along pretty well because of how much their religions were shared back in the day. I'd be happy to answer questions if you have any!

[bradleyhepburn]

It’s really difficult to decide what to do with so many ways of looking at Paganism. I have a Scottish heritage and would love to dive into the old religion of my ancestors. I feel guilty choosing what deities to research like some sort of spiritual pick and mix.

Your videos are super helpful though. I’m really learning a lot. Thank you.

[madisonrhuebaker]

I consider myself Neo-Pagan, but I'm a hard polytheist that worships the Greek pantheon.

I try to imitate some historical things, but only if they fit comfortably into my lifestyle. I think religion is alive and always evolving. I don't think the gods are frozen in ancient times.

Also, I'm not Greek or Roman! I hail from the US, and the ancient Greeks have had a massive impact on our culture as a society, as a government, the literature our children read in school, the Greek/Roman gods are all over the place in America if you look for them. I studied their myths growing up.

Worshipping who my ancestors worshiped felt important to me at first, but Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Germanic mythology never connected with me. And it's because it isn't familiar to me. I was RAISED knowing the stories of Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Ares, Athena, etc etc etc.... Therefore, to me, how I was brought up, my current society, matters more to me than ancestral lines I have no experience with.

And the Greeks' and Romans' influence was far reaching in ancient times. It wouldn't have been unlikely that an ancestor or two of mine worshiped their gods or at least a god that was conflated with a Roman/Greek god.

[magister.mortran]

Thanks for this insightful explanations.
Pagan Reconstructionism is however far older than Neo-Paganism. It is already documented in the 15th century during the Renaissance. One important member was Julius Pomponius Laetus (1418 - 1498), the founder of the Academia Romana, one of the earliest pagan reconstructionist organizations.

[indigenouseuropeanamerican]

i consider my self a pagan reconstructionism, sinse i am always researching and studing the ancient culture trying to rebuild from it and try to fit it into my daily life the best i can. i'm always studing up on the Gods and Goddesses tryingbto learn as much as i can about them while reading up on the ancient ceremonies so i can try to get it properly done the best i'm able to do so. i still have alot to learn but my studies and research thriving to keep learning will be something as their is always new findings that tends to help me along the way.

[jadetyde]

"each person's truth is subject to their individual reality" very well said, my friend. i believe elements of paganism are in sensing one's own personal experience in relation with the factors of being alive.

[dustinmichel]

Recently my blood line has lead me to the celts. I have started to study Cernunnnos and started wearing Celtic symbolism.

[elliannawilson]

**Long Post Alert**


I'd like to say I'm both but lean more towards Reconstructionist (but that's a hard maybe on that) as when I first started this path, my mind and thoughts, after my current deities I celebrate came to me in a dream, focused on Wicca. I like the Wiccan rede (Harm none but do as ye will) and the sabbats/esbats interest me a lot, it gets me closer to something in me that I've never experienced before and am still discovering as I go along and I also REALLY love the concept of The Summerlands, whenever I think about it, it gives me peace of mind and serenity, and it honestly feels very familiar to me, like I'm travelling back home the moment my head thinks of it. All this being said, I also am in huge disagreement with the Wiccan "every god and goddess is just the essence of the one and true moon goddess and horned god" because I believe it is disrespectful, abhorrent and offensive because it takes away the power of every god and goddess that was here, it destroys history and myths of the people who made and shared the stories...
I believe the Horned god and Moon goddess are their own entities due to the power of word and how many Wiccans truly believe in them, but they aren't all encompassing--in fact, I believe, they just might be "new gods" compared to the world's gods and pantheons, if that makes any sense.

As for everything else, I often think about the past, how our ancestors did in fact grow up, how they believed, what stories they had, their visions and so forth...
I feel connected to them as I follow the same thing as them, reading their stories and hearing their voices, speaking to their gods as though they are my own, feeling at peace and open to the thoughts of "What if all realites, all afterlife did exist?" And feel content to know that not only does Heaven exist but also Helhiem/Valhalla, Tarterus/Eysian Fields, etc:
It only pains me that everything has been changed or lost due to the Religious/Chrisitian movement(s) of the past.
I can only imagine the oral stories every person knew, and where we could or would be if they hadn't been destroyed. Where our civilizations would head down to--even going so far into wondering what the world would be like if colonialism never existed...
Every story, every spoken word matters to me, and I find peace in that, too.

But I can't call myself a Heathen because I have had Freyja, Thor and Odin himself come into my dreams to speak to me, because I've had the equal side of The Morrigan, Epona, Artemis and Hecate speak to me as well...

As I don't know a lot of Celtic mythology, I find myself being taught and open to the gods because I have been shown that The Morrigan wants to and is teaching me lessons. And Epona, is some way I'm sure, does as well. Greek mythology, as did every little kid because the greek mythology was easily accessible, was my first home, it was the first pantheon I believed in truly and fell in love with, with Artemis as the one I claimed to be my matron (in many childish ways, of course) I used ti pray to Apollo, to Zues, to Hera, to Circe...many of the pantheon, purely because I felt a strong love for them all and their stories...

And who's to say what happened? As we do know the vikings raided the Orkney Islands, who is to say that both didn't adopt one another's customs and ways, while, they were warring over one another? To hear different names and colloquialismis on top of it all--hell, even the Celtic, or even Germanic to boot!, had their own ways. The Gauls had Macha, Welsh, Rihannon, and the Irish had Epona. All different goddesses but of the same attributes, and are even considered by many scholars are the same!
As for Germanic, we have different names for Odin: Wodan, Wotan, etc:
While different, they all celebrate and worship differently...
We all walked on different ways of life, and to recontruct it, is a admirable goal, to walk with our ancestors and know how they lived is amazing, but with the gods and goddesses I do commune with, I can't adopt three pantheons, as I only feel a connection to some Celtic dieties, I can only recollect so many stories of the Norse and feel connected to specific gods that choose to help me, and my attraction to Greek Mythos isn't as strong as it once was. (Nor do I want to consider myself a "Nordic Wiccan" or whichever else as my beliefs contradict Wiccan set-up) So does this make me Neo-pagan, to believe in the different gods that come across all pantheons and they chose to talk to me, or am I a reconstructionist due to my beliefs as a whole? As I know every person before our time never really celebrated or venerated every god in their respective pantheon because they couldn't be worshipped in every day life. (Hephestus is the god of blacksmithing and was only venerated by blacksmiths, Odin favored the warrior but not every person was one, etc:)

This is a huge rant to get to the point, as I can never really open up hugely on the debate. So, due to your insight, it has both led me thinking and wonder about some stuff. So thank you, and I hope my insight, though long and no doubt bored a few people, has helped out, too. Paganisim, like every religion, is kinda touchy and iffy and when you try to label it, it is pretty hard to do as everyone has different beliefs and walks of life to the path they're walking.
Whether you are Neo or a reconstructionalist, they are equally fascinating to discover and figure out where you land. Thank you for the video!!

[eugenusgarysson]

I've written a folktale. This is a gift to you:
Tale of the Two Small Trees Growing Too Close Together.

One morning, a mother and her daughter were walking along the hinterland beyond the great Wald, heading toward the apple tree grove, about a league's walk from the Frith-Stay. While walking along, the daughter took notice:

"Look, mother, those two small trees over there are too close!"

The daughter was wise and observant; so they looked closer to see, and indeed, there were two small sapling Oak trees growing in the acre, nearly entwined with their tiny branches. They had begun to take deeper root in the Mother Earth's soil, yet they were too near each other, whereby their roots & branches were in danger of becoming entangled with the other.

The daughter asked her mother: "What shall we do for the trees, mother? If we save them, when I am older, we will be able to pick the acorns and make a delicious porridge after we boil the tannin from them & clean them; although, if we do not save them, they may die.

The mother said: "This is very wise, my child!" so she asked her daughter: "What is it you think we should do?"

The daughter replied: Well, I don't want to harm the roots of either tree, for they shall surely die. Their Oak roots are still delicate, mother. They are tapped nearly a foot into the soil, and they have little chance of survival if we are not careful."

Mother responded: "Very good, my lovely child. We shall carefully uproot them both, keep their soil moistened from the stream nearby, and gently pull apart their roots so as not to harm either one. Then we will replant one yonder apart, so that when they grow tall, their roots will not become entwined, and they shall both thrive in the acre. Both trees will grow strong, and the branches of neither will threaten to overtake the other."

The daughter replied: "Yes, mother, I shall take one of the apple pales and go fetch a pale of water from the stream. One day, we will plant many beautiful Oaks from their seeds!"

"Yes indeed." her mother said, "and the roots & branches of those trees are a token of our Kin-Folk."

"Yes, mother." the daughter answered, "I look forward to watching them grow as we journey back and forth from the apple grove to see they are well. I will hurry and be back soon."

[ellietarabarova]

I would say I’m both, I have aspects of both and I’m polytheistic, I try to view the gods the way the culture did, however since I’ve always felt drawn to different pantheons, I’ve used the frame work of Wicca and it’s ritual structure and sabbats to honor the gods I feel called to. I love what recinstructionists are doing but I just don’t feel I can be hard line reconstructionist personally

[amosscherrey]

Wonderful video. I’ve been an hellenic pagan/polytheist for 30 of my 45 years. I’ve had ample time to watch the community grow and change. It’s been a wonderful thing to see. I call myself a revivalist, not a reconstructionist, and here’s why. There are some core parts of Hellenism that are non-negotiable. For example, the sanctity of noumenia (today is a noumenia, btw!). That sanctity will never change. Maintaining Hestia’s flame is non-negotiable. But what is negotiable is how we keep the flame. I’ve been back and forth over the years from hardliner to where I rest now, which is in my thinking that the flame doesn’t have to be a flame. Instead I keep an LED candlestick on her shrine and it’s plugged into the wall electricity. I pull the non-negotiable bits of the religion (kicking and screaming at times lol) into the 21st. Stay blessed.

[danielkoppl]

I agree that Reconstruction is more interesting (also from an Academic view) and can be sometimes suprising when there are new findings. But some facts are also a lot darker than expected

[miaprice]

Thank you for the information! I have never heard of this before, so I learned something today 😊

[mathildehb]

I was first drawn to pagan reconstructionism, but am now, a neo-pagan. Currently, I say my eclectic wiccan path is still under development and I have lots to learn before I do a self-dedication-ritual. Maybe I will end up starting a coven? 😅

[groveofthesevennations]

For our Grove we combine elements of both the Druid Revival & Reconstructionist elements. Ancestor veneration is extremely important for us.

Very nice video ye made here.
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